Preview — Splintered
by A.G. Howard

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental hAlyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own....more

Kerry SaltvickWhile there is nothing extremely graphic, there is sexual innuendo, and soft-core kissing. The kissing is often described in very sensual imagery.…moreWhile there is nothing extremely graphic, there is sexual innuendo, and soft-core kissing. The kissing is often described in very sensual imagery. Also the main character is 15, (16?) So just a few years older than an 8th grader.

I would allow my 8th grade year old self to read it, because I knew about the birds and bees already and was mature enough to handle it.(less)

Community Reviews

This book literally made my jaw drop. I'm still reeling from some of the offensive, annoying and downright incorrect things that made it past editors, proofreaders and buyers.

I could point out the way mental illness is sensationalized for a bit of drama and Alyssa's mother is just put in a straitjacket and wheeled off to a padded cell, even though straitjackets and padded cells haven't been used much since the introduction of psychotropic drugs in the 1950s and especially not for someone in herThis book literally made my jaw drop. I'm still reeling from some of the offensive, annoying and downright incorrect things that made it past editors, proofreaders and buyers.

I could point out the way mental illness is sensationalized for a bit of drama and Alyssa's mother is just put in a straitjacket and wheeled off to a padded cell, even though straitjackets and padded cells haven't been used much since the introduction of psychotropic drugs in the 1950s and especially not for someone in her condition.

Or I could talk about the ridiculous YA tropes this book is drowning in. Mary Sue emo girl with plaid tights and dreadlocks lusts after a beautiful control-freak boy who has a girlfriend who is a stunning model, characterized by her short clothing and sexuality and - you guessed it - is a total bitch to the MC for no good reason. Probably because the author needs you to think the evil bitch deserves it when Mary Sue wins the guy.

And lets talk about Jeb and Alyssa, shall we? And the fact that this is an actual conversation that takes place in the book:

“Al.” His Adam’s apple moves as he swallows. “I want you to put a stop to this Hitch thing. Whatever’s going on, it’s not worth…” He pauses. “Losing an important part of you.”Unbelievable. He thinks I’m such a prude, he won’t even say the word. “You mean my virginity?”His neck flashes red. “You deserve better than some one-night thing. You’re the kind of girl who should have a commitment from a guy who actually cares. Okay?”

OH MY GOD. Is this real? Not only does this macho asshole think he can tell Alyssa to stop her relationship, but virginity is "an important part of you"? What freaking century am I in? If it wasn't for the iPods, I actually would have thought I'd picked up some historical fiction. I honestly thought we were starting to move on from the days when we gave our teen girls pro-virginity, woman-shaming propaganda. Guess not.

Jeb is constantly aggressive and condescending towards Alyssa and it only gets worse when they land themselves in Wonderland. He talks to her like she's five years old and literally pushes her around:

“No.” Jeb crosses my arms over my chest, then lifts me against one of the curtains on the wall so my feet dangle, pinning me like a butterfly to a cork board. “We’re not going anywhere.”

And people like this guy! He's supposed to be one of the love interests but he made me furious.

Despite the fact that Jeb is an abusive piece of shit, Alyssa still crushes on him throughout the book (blushing as she does it, of course, so you don't mistake her for one of those evil slutty girls). She also has no positive relationships with any other female character, except her coworker who she talks to, like, once.

As for the Alice in Wonderland retelling aspect, the book reintroduces many things seen before - talking flowers, drinks/cake making you smaller/bigger, a sort of white rabbit, etc. - and really the only interesting new thing is love interest #2 - Morpheus. Who is, by far, the most interesting thing about this book. In fact, he's the only remotely interesting thing in the book.

But even Morpheus isn't enough to convince me to force myself through the second book.

So the other day I was watching Grey's Anatomy with my main bitch and I knew I was making a mistake because, being a casual viewer (and by casual I mean that I can stomach perhaps one episode every seven months) I wasn't invested enough in the convoluted story or the characters to ignore all of the insanely far-fetched medical and social oversights: a woman is furious that her brother died because "I'm a neurosurgeon, anWhite girl anthem time, because literally, ew, I can't.

Literally.

Ew.

I can't.

So the other day I was watching Grey's Anatomy with my main bitch and I knew I was making a mistake because, being a casual viewer (and by casual I mean that I can stomach perhaps one episode every seven months) I wasn't invested enough in the convoluted story or the characters to ignore all of the insanely far-fetched medical and social oversights: a woman is furious that her brother died because "I'm a neurosurgeon, and I could have saved him!" even though by law you cannot operate on your own family; a woman with a broken neck giving birth in an elevator, with no spinal block or stabilizing equipment save for a flimsy neck brace, being told to "stay very still, or your neck will break more!"; a woman who just turned the machines off on her brain-dead husband being back at work after like two days on bereavement leave; the chief of surgery planning to marry the owner of the hospital and then, after one fight, calling off the wedding; surgeons walking around the hospital in gowns and masks and gloves, eating food; surgeons at the ambulance bay with long flowing hair left loose; a man being surprised that his wife has changed after a stint performing life-saving surgery in a war-zone; and a pair of interns left alone with a pregnant woman with a broken neck and subsequently nearly killing her by loosening her neck brace.

The list goes on. And it reminds me of a conversation I had with my other main bitch, who is a student mental health nurse, about this book and the absolutely absurd way it plays out medically. A nurse carries a syringe full of drugs in her pocket; a woman is put in a strait jacket in a padded cell; a young woman with a family is locked away on a ward indefinitely with only scheduled visits.

The nurse with the syringe in her pocket? What the fuck. Struck off. You cannot carry drugs around like keys.

Strait jackets and particularly padded cells are scaremongering horror fiction. Using strait jackets, or indeed any extreme physical force, is these days widely considered a breach of human rights. There is no if, and or but - the author was sensationalizing mental illness. A patient like Alyssa's mother would never ever be confined to a strait jacket and certainly not a padded cell.

Alison would be assessed, medicated, and put back out into the community. Probably with home help. She's a young woman capable of looking after herself. Gone are the days in which mentally ill people were immediately holed up behind bars. But that's not tantalizing enough, is it, A. G. Howard? That's not sensational or exciting. It's not thrilling to see someone with mental illness take her medicine and live a normal life.

Look, I get it. Alison's just misunderstood and Wonderland is real and blah-blah-blah. But this book is FUBAR in terms of how it deals with mental illness. Like holy fuck, I cannot get over the nurse with the syringe in her pocket. Her fucking POCKET! That shit stays on the drug trolley and then goes straight in the goddamn sharps bin when it's done. How did nobody catch this? How? This book went through an agent, an editor, and a whole publishing house, and no one thought to themselves, "Is that even allowed?"

Because guess what, it's not! That nurse has now lost her job!

(And never mind the fact that nurses, female nurses, are more often than not clones of Nurse Ratched in YA or similar media - these evil cretins who exist only to disbelieve and abuse the plucky protagonist who always rips out his/her IV and acts as if it's not total blinding agony. How dare you? Nurses are the backbone of the health care system. Doctors are fucking useless without them.)

Of course we can explain all of this nonsense away with, "Well, Alison isn't really mentally ill," which is a giant cop-out and also the lead-in to a complete clusterfuck of regurgitating everything Lewis Carroll already said and making it markedly more "emo". I despise retellings because they're lazy as shit. Let me write my complex retelling as I sit in front of the TV with a bag of Cheetos and scratch my gonads with my free hand.

There's a difference between taking themes from classic works and weaving them subtly into a story. That's not just legit, it's smart as hell. Here's this fantasy or sci-fi with apple and woodcutter metaphors and dichotomy discourse and oh! A totally original story infused with the classic Grimm morality of Snow White. But you won't find that here. You won't find a book that questions its roots and uses its source material to pose a question. You'll find Tim Burton's pale weird Alice adaptation layered with stupid clothing and emo love interests and a girl who wants to have her cake and eat it too, right in front of the dudes whose cake it is.

Speaking of dudes, holy shit, could they be more creepy and conniving? Both of them? Morpheus is the lesser of two evils and he literally tried to kill Alyssa...I think? The last fifty or so pages of this book made absolutely no sense and I feel like the author pulled the dead flowers and Red Queen soul and crown thing straight out of her butt. So the Red Queen is trapped and Morpheus loves her so he wants to release her so he has her possess Alyssa and then...stuff happens...I need a fucking Jaffa Cake. It's a good job I didn't give a rat's ass, because if I had, this review might have been even swearier than it is.

Jeb was built up to be this lovely guy but as soon as they're in Wonderland, he's a shovel-and-lime psycho, complete with sexist virginity shackles and a sociopathic lack of understanding of Alyssa's actions: she takes action, any action of her own choosing, or talks to someone he's not keen on, and he acts like she just suggested hacking Grandma to death with a Parang Chandong and then roasting her over a fire like the Termites did Bob. Alyssa feels guilty for everything she does, and she feels accountable to Jeb for every step she takes. Everything is his idea, and oh, he's so strong and tough and amazing! I bet he won't seem so strong and tough and amazing when you've got four kids and he's doing donuts around the daycare parking lot because you were a minute late. This instalove will morph to eternal hate when they're forty and Jeb's still telling their friends about how boring the birth of little Benny was. "Her labour went on for twenty-five hours," he'll say. "I was bored shitless." Alyssa will be hurt and when they argue about it at home Jeb will shake his finger in her face and tell her she's an ungrateful bitch because, unlike her, he goes to work every day. She'll want to tell him that raising four children is work, fucking hell, it's work, but she can't confront him. It scares her when he yells.

This book is what happens when you give your daughters Pride and Prejudice and Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. This is what happens when you can't give them a Barbie without also supplying a Ken. You get this totally fucked idea of romance that's normalized and celebrated and everyone else laps it up too because they remember falling in love with asshole Mr. Darcy and obsessive persistent Prince Charming and Prince Florian who wafts around the kingdom kissing women who appear to be dead. I bet he was disappointed when Aurora was alive.

Give your daughters Nancy Drew and lesbian pilot Barbie and Dora. How about Sailor Moon and Mulan and Frozen, and Jane fucking Eyre, who put her own love and integrity over the allure of a lying man. Why are your daughters' role models dicks and doormats? Give them Anne Boleyn and Rosa Parks. Audrey Hepburn, Laverne Cox, Maya Angelou. Then you get YA books like And I Darken and The Hunger Games.

This book honestly just wore me down. The writing is lacklustre, the plot is stretched so thin it's like a fucking mu shu pancake, and jesus, spare me your romantic histrionics and woman-hating. I get that Alyssa's jealous of Taelor, and I get that Taelor's a nasty person, but do we need all of the disgusted references to her short clothing, her nails and her hair and her sexuality? Not only does this book glorify controlling macho fuckboys but it also slings mud at women who aren't our lovely virginal Alyssa. Alyssa has no positive relationships with women, and don't you dare try to convince me that that girl she works with is her bestie. They're coworkers who say all of two lines to one another. That's not a female relationship; that's a plot device.

Look, I should have known. The blurb sort of piqued my interest, because I love parallel universes and girls who fall into them, but Alice in Wonderland always just stank to me. I never ever liked it. I don't even like the Disney movie and I literally like all of the Disney movies.

I guess I thought a retelling would bring something other than fishnets and fuckboys to the table. Oh, how wrong I was....more

I LOVED this book enough that I'm posting my first ever detailed Goodreads review.

The writing is gorgeous--lyrical and evocative without ever descending into unnecessarily purple. The story is compelling (& the twist was unexpected), and the characters felt like they were real enough to have heartbeats. The author is also one of those wonderful creatures whose pre-finished books are clean enough to read. I read this in manuscript, pre-galleys, and the writing was so polished that I only notI LOVED this book enough that I'm posting my first ever detailed Goodreads review.

The writing is gorgeous--lyrical and evocative without ever descending into unnecessarily purple. The story is compelling (& the twist was unexpected), and the characters felt like they were real enough to have heartbeats. The author is also one of those wonderful creatures whose pre-finished books are clean enough to read. I read this in manuscript, pre-galleys, and the writing was so polished that I only noticed one error in the text. THAT is rare.

SPLINTERED is a great companion read to Carroll's ALICE IN WONDERLAND without disrespecting the original text in any way. It's not a re-telling/re-envisioning, but a story that uses ALICE as background to jump off into a new story. Honestly, I was hesitant to read it because of the ALICE association. (I am a lifelong ALICE fan and former university lit instructor.) However, in A.G. Howard's hands, the allusions to the original story are treated with respect. It was masterfully done.

It's also the first book I've read that I could say was actually a read-alike for my Wicked Lovely series. I've seen that phrase thrown around by publishers since WL released, and I usually roll my eyes. SPLINTERED, however, is a perfect fit for any of you who enjoyed WL. In it you will find a pierced artist who is the protag's best friend, a girl who has a major secret and ends up caught up in the politics of a strange world filled with beautiful terrifying creatures. There's even a "living ivy vine" moment. It's a read-alike without being derivative.

Most of all, though, SPLINTERED is simply a delicious, disturbing, mad, wonderful read. I can't recommend it highly enough. ...more

Can we take one moment and wonder how much better this book would have been if Jeb wasn't in it? CAN WE?!

This guy was a major douchebag! Besides the fact that he was as good as useless to the entire plot, he had no respect all for Alyssa's opinions or decisions. "Jeb, I think--" "Shut the fuck up. I decide what you can and can't do."

Protective was not even how I would describe him. Controlling is still an understatement. He treated her like a fucking puppy. Its not even like I'm reading too muchCan we take one moment and wonder how much better this book would have been if Jeb wasn't in it? CAN WE?!

This guy was a major douchebag! Besides the fact that he was as good as useless to the entire plot, he had no respect all for Alyssa's opinions or decisions. "Jeb, I think--" "Shut the fuck up. I decide what you can and can't do."

Protective was not even how I would describe him. Controlling is still an understatement. He treated her like a fucking puppy. Its not even like I'm reading too much into this because Morpheus kept pointing it out. And I feel so sorry for his actual girlfriend who he used and cheated on. What the fuck is wrong with his mindset?

Alyssa fell into his bullshit everytime. I can't...I just can't even with her. She was a complete mary sue. That's all I have to say.

Morpheus had his bullshit detector on the entire time which made me love him. His relationship with Alyssa though was so back and forth it made my head spin.

The plot itself was alright. I would give it a 4. The ending was kind of quick and cheapened.

Just no with Jeb though. Just no.

ETA:A month ago a made the mistake of taking the plunge and reading the sequel (got it from the library no way in hell would I spend money on that trash) and it was even worse than I expected. If you're interested in seeing a (slightly spoilery) rant regarding the sequel and Jeb (again) then you can see it here.

All I can say is apparently the author based Jeb off of her own husband and if that doesn't make you question the society we live in than I don't know what ever will. ...more

Sometime during summer, I took this book in my hands, looked at it lovingly, and sighed before opening the first page and starting my reading of it.

Oh, it so isn’t the dark but magical story I anticipated. It’s been months since I’ve put it aside to rot next to other books waiting for my interest to rekindle, but I just think that will never happen, because the only thing I like about it is MORPHEUS.

Okay, so here is a little truth for you: There is no other children's tale that scared me most as a child than Alice in Wonderland.* I will never forget the first time I heard the story. It was by way of my grandmother and these cassette tapes she bought me called Porch Swing Stories. It was very generous of her, but let me tell you, those tapes were the devil. Pretty much all of the stories were purposefully cranked up in the creepy department and I'm convinced that thMore of a 3.5 star rating.

Okay, so here is a little truth for you: There is no other children's tale that scared me most as a child than Alice in Wonderland.* I will never forget the first time I heard the story. It was by way of my grandmother and these cassette tapes she bought me called Porch Swing Stories. It was very generous of her, but let me tell you, those tapes were the devil. Pretty much all of the stories were purposefully cranked up in the creepy department and I'm convinced that the person who created such torture devices never interacted with a child. Later, I saw the Disney movie version of the tale and was further traumatized by the damn Cheshire Cat, who was just a little too happy for my taste, and his Wonderland posse. I mean, what was their problem anyway?

Well, I guess that explains it...

Obviously, since losing my heart and soul (as Kat frequently reminds me), being afraid of Alice in Wonderland is no longer an issue for me. But besides that less than disturbing fact, I had to read Splintered because A) The cover is to die for B) The cover is to die for C) The cover is to die for. This level of novel vetting always works for me. That is, except when it doesn't, but that's besides the point. Splintered brings such a unique spin on Alice in Wonderland with rich world building, re-imagined characters and a clever plot.

Alyssa Gardener, our protagonist, has a family history of insane women all starting with Alice Liddell. In fact, even her very own mother, who she distantly refers to as Allison, is committed to an asylum. With her strange ability to hear the whispers of flowers and bugs, Alyssa fears she is soon to follow. However, her true fear is ultimately losing her mother to the madness unless she can somehow break the Liddell curse. So she gathers family trinkets (a key, mirror, gloves, hair pin, etc.), repeats history and travels down the rabbit hole only to find it's not exactly the same Wonderland described in the famous story.

If you are one who, unlike myself, knows the original Alice in Wonderland pretty well, then I think you'll be very pleased with what Splintered has to offer. Right from the beginning when we are introduced to Alyssa Gardener, I could see the subtle references. But, of course, simply mentioning pieces of the original isn't enough to make it feel authentic. There's the vivid descriptions, character mannerisms and, of course, Wonderland-like puzzles and riddles. And that is where I think Howard truly excelled with this novel. She effortlessly wove in the old with the new. So instead of it feeling like a simple retelling, it's more along the lines of an extension of the original because it's clear that Howard left no stone unturned when it came to crafting the her Wonderland.

If that isn't enough to entice you, there's also this gothic feel the novel carries, especially in the beginning when the mystery of Alyssa's past is at it's strongest. Alyssa the skater girl, who likes to wear colored dreds and collects moths for artistic collages. Little things like that added a certain level of charm, but also helped Splintered to stand out as taking a slightly different route as a retelling.

Now, while I've been singing praises left and right about Splintered, there are a few things that bothered me. However, I should note that it did not detract from my personal enjoyment from the novel much.

The Characters:

My biggest problem would have to be Jeb, Alyssa's best friend. I can understand what Howard was going for with his characterization. Present the reader with a character who has to have some type of control over the main character to help show her resulting personal growth by the end of the novel. At least, that's what I got from it. Unfortunately, this did not work out for me. Why? Because 90% of the time I found Jeb to be a controlling douche. In the beginning, Alyssa wants to go to London to study art, so her dad and Jeb sit down for dinner to decide if she can go. Did I mention that he is only a year older than her and the love interest of the story? Yeah... I wasn't exactly thrilled with him having so much say in the matter. Yet, I tried to like Jeb. Tried and failed. Every time he went missing from the storyline, I felt myself really enjoying the book, but when he returned? Nosedive. By the end of the book, the only way to describe how I felt for him is to simply say I tolerated him. Basically, I went from stabby feelings to an eye roll whenever his character had dialogue.

Even still was his girlfriend, who has a history of bullying Alyssa. Jeb seems to never defend his best friend, but instead expects Alyssa to try harder with getting along. >_> What's worse is that Alyssa never really calls him on that. Why should Alyssa have to place nice with a bully? More importantly, why would her best friend ask that of her and never say anything to his girlfriend?

The good thing is that once Alyssa got to Wonderland the annoyances decreased significantly. Alyssa's characterization picks up and we are introduced to Morpheus. And this might surprise some that know my tastes, but I kinda liked the guy. I think his twisted personality fit in perfectly with Wonderland. But I do think the reason why he didn't bother me is because I never truly saw him as a contender for Alyssa's heart. I saw that he had feelings for her and that they shared a connection, but I never thought it would go further than that.

Overall, if you are looking for a richly imagined retelling of Alice in Wonderland,Splintered is definitely the way to go. I had a few mild reservations, but I think most people will probably enjoy seeing just how deep the rabbit hole truly goes. I did and I can't wait to see what future works Howard has planned.

*Hopefully I didn't lose too many cool points with you for that strange, compulsive confession.

ARC was received from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review. Thank you!

“He starts to hum, a haunting melody. No words ride the music, only the familiar notes of a forgotten song.”

Story ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐When I was little I could never quite decide which fairy tale was my favorite. But the older I was, the more I was fascinated by Alice and her adventure in wonderland. The thing I liked the most of it? The craziness, the insane and illogical things in it. And the huge amount of fantasy for creating a world like this. But I always felt like the story was too childish, too naive “He starts to hum, a haunting melody. No words ride the music, only the familiar notes of a forgotten song.”

Story ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️When I was little I could never quite decide which fairy tale was my favorite. But the older I was, the more I was fascinated by Alice and her adventure in wonderland. The thing I liked the most of it? The craziness, the insane and illogical things in it. And the huge amount of fantasy for creating a world like this. But I always felt like the story was too childish, too naive and nice. So this book was the perfect match for me.In German it’s called “dark wonderland” and finishing this book in just a few days, I can only agree to that. The main character is Alyssa, a young girl with huge artistic talent and whose mother is in a asylum. Soon she finds out that to save her mother from an electric damage, she needs to find the rabbit hole. And soon a huge adventure starts for Al with new friends, enemies and revelations about herself. All in all I think this book was awesome in its storytelling. The twists and turns and all the fantasy in it is hugely entertaining and fascinating. I loved it, especially all the plot twists that make me greedy for more. More insane thoughts and people and more creepy but fantastic creations.

Character ⭐️⭐️⭐️ “No one knows what he or she is capable of until things are at their darkest.” I think this part of the book has a few flaws and weaknesses. Starting with our main character Alyssa whose really brave, smart and all In really likable. But being around Jeb she always lets herself be saved. She’s playing the weak link and lets him speak for her. In general she’s not deciding things for herself, always listening to some boys who try to push her to their side. In the end that changes, but still, it’s a bit annoying that even though she could’ve easily saved her a lot of trouble and emotions by going through her adventure alone, she still chose to be guided by her all time hero Jeb. Okay. Lets be honest. I hated Jeb. Didn’t start liking him throughout the book, even though I maybe should have. I just couldn’t. He always spoke for her and decided for her, even though she could’ve easily done it herself. But no, he needed to play her hero and savior all the time. I know some girls and boys love this, but I think a good mixture or balance of strong woman who can save the world herself and men who support her and save her when all is lost and she really needs his help, is the best. Morpheus was a really interesting character that sometimes reminded me of Rhys from acowar, but in a more wicked way. He was extremely selfish with a huge intelligence and a great self-confidence. He is a real good tactician that can master a plan easily even though people get hurt or killed. I liked that about him - the ruthlessness in his character. All in all I think Morpheus was the most interesting of them and I’m glad we get to see a lot of him in the book.

World ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Little blossom in peach and redTrapping boys with your pretty head;Tease and play, be coy and smartFor you will one day break his heart” All the points for the world building in this book. The landscape, the creations, the people, twist and turns. It was brilliant even though it had many inspirations by Alice in wonderland. But that’s what I liked about it. It was like a really dark twisted and creepy wonderland with similar characters but a really great storyline.

Relationships ⭐️ “You can put me down now," I grump."I don't know. It's a lot easier to save your ass when I have it riding on my shoulder. Oh wow. I never had this situation. Every time a book had a love triangle, throughout the book I choose one side - and then I was team XY for the whole trilogy. But in this book... I didn’t choose a side. I didn’t like either of them. I couldn’t stand Jeb because of his character and I didn’t like Morpheus because even though he was really interesting, he really hurt Alyssa in a really bad and horrible way. In my opinion this book could’ve easily live without a stupid love triangle (especially Jeb in it...), because Alyssa is a great female character and could’ve been a huge female hero. But no... always boys that try to guide her on their side. That was literally a part I really hated about the book. It was just unnecessary.

Writing style ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Well. Well. Well. This wasn’t a masterpiece of words but it was good. It was fluent and simple with a lot of imaginative descriptions. The twist and turns, revelations and creation made the book so wonderfully individual. So, I definitely recommend this book to anyone who love Alice in Wonderland and wants to try a new, twisted and creepy version of it.

“I need to get to that tea party and wake up the guests."Jeb looks at me. "And how are you supposed to do that? Give a magical kiss to the half-baked hatmaker?” ...more

“You understand the logic behind the illogical, Alyssa. It's in your nature to find tranquility amid the madness. And that's what we're doing here. We are giving our food a fighting chance.”

I knew going into this book that I would either love it or hate it and to be honest, I more so expected the latter. Through the Looking Glass is one of my favourite books and as such I knew I would be drawing comparisons the whole time. Lucky foSPOILER FREE REVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN6NG...

4.5*

“You understand the logic behind the illogical, Alyssa. It's in your nature to find tranquility amid the madness. And that's what we're doing here. We are giving our food a fighting chance.”

I knew going into this book that I would either love it or hate it and to be honest, I more so expected the latter. Through the Looking Glass is one of my favourite books and as such I knew I would be drawing comparisons the whole time. Lucky for me, I loved this book.

I had heard this described as a retelling of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland but I think it is more so a reimagining of Alice's Wonderland, a darker, much more sinister Tim Burton-esque Wonderland. I also found the events of the story aligned much more with Through the Looking Glass than they did with Wonderland, which got kind of confusing for spoilery reasons. Because of this, the book really wasn't what I was expecting, but I mean that in the best possible way....more

Re-Read 11-4-16 to 11-5-16. I'm going to try to finally finish these books

So after re-reading this I was quickly going down to a 3 star, maybe less - just because of Jeb's character. I mean he's hot and all and he's does good things sometimes, but for the most part he just sucks! I don't like the way he's controlling with Alyssa. I mean who is he to be telling her what she can and can't do or be with when he has a girlfriend. Whatever!

And even though Morpheus did some devious things in the bookRe-Read 11-4-16 to 11-5-16. I'm going to try to finally finish these books

So after re-reading this I was quickly going down to a 3 star, maybe less - just because of Jeb's character. I mean he's hot and all and he's does good things sometimes, but for the most part he just sucks! I don't like the way he's controlling with Alyssa. I mean who is he to be telling her what she can and can't do or be with when he has a girlfriend. Whatever!

And even though Morpheus did some devious things in the book, I just love him and his beautiful blue wings =)

The thing is, Alyssa is related to the Alice Liddell that Lewis Carroll wrote about and they all go mad . . .

Alyssa's mom is in an insane asylum for talking about rabbit holes and trying to kill Alyssa and talking bugs and flowers. Alyssa and her dad visit Alison in the ward all of the time. But things are just not as they seem. Why would they be, it's all cray in Wonderland world.

Alyssa is a skater girl and she can hear the bugs and plants talking too. She thinks she's going to go mad like all of the other women in the family.

But no, she just ends up going to Wonderland to be with Morpheus and try to help her mom. And of course Jeb just has to go along and for a while there I was ill reading all of his nonsense.

Alas, the crazy ensued and we were off to the races with madness all around. There were a lot of pretty cool parts, some morbid but hey, it is what it is.

And the freaking book covers on these books are some of the most amazing I have ever seen!!!!!

*there's probably going to be a lot of grammatical errors in this review because i'm a lazy shit*

i honestly don't know what to think of this one. to me it was bland, boring and plain, yet somewhat enjoyable.

bruh, this was seriously not the kind of Alice in Wonderland i expected to read about. i actually forgot what the tale even is, but whatever it is, it was definitely not this, like it was different??? and i just realized that sentence probably made like no sense, but what the fuck ever.

so t*there's probably going to be a lot of grammatical errors in this review because i'm a lazy shit*

i honestly don't know what to think of this one. to me it was bland, boring and plain, yet somewhat enjoyable.

bruh, this was seriously not the kind of Alice in Wonderland i expected to read about. i actually forgot what the tale even is, but whatever it is, it was definitely not this, like it was different??? and i just realized that sentence probably made like no sense, but what the fuck ever.

so the beginning actually gave me a lot of typical ya contemporary with some magic realism vibes. it didn't really feel like an awesome magical fantasy retelling. it was rather bland and dull and seemed a lot like a ya contemporary to me. even when we got up to the "fantasy part" of the book, it still didn't feel like a "fantasy retelling" to me. felt like a ya contemporary magic realism fam.

the writing was kind of immature-ish and really dull and bland. like, the story didn't feel alive to me. idk why, but for some reason it lacked magic and simply felt dull??? it was very bland and i honestly felt no emotions while reading this except for annoyance. at jeb, particularly.

alyssa our mc, was the typical white, blonde hair, blue eyed pretty mc who doesn't really know she's so beautiful and has two guys lusting after her. *rolls eyes* she was extremely dull and annoying. she was whiny and downright annoying and i didn't like her??? like, am i supposed to like you? no thanks.

jeb was a controlling piece of dog shit. like, he needs to fucking calm the fuck down and stop trying to tell alyssa what to fucking do and stop being so fucking controlling to her. how the fuck do people like this guy?? he's a fucking shit.

morpheus on the other hand is fucking everything. unlike, jeb, the piece of shit, he's not a controlling, abusive asshole and pushes alyssa to do her best. he's fucking amazing and can i have him? thanks.

so like, overall, i'm disappointed, but hoping the next book is better.

Before I start: how gorgeous is that cover? I mean really, if there exists such a thing as judging a book by its cover, I'm so there.

Alyssa is a descendant of the original Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland book. The women in her family suffer from a curse of madness, even the illegitimate by-blows of the family become stricken with insanity after they reach puberty. Her mother ends up in a mental asylum after trying to kill Alyssa when she was a small child,Before I start: how gorgeous is that cover? I mean really, if there exists such a thing as judging a book by its cover, I'm so there.

Alyssa is a descendant of the original Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland book. The women in her family suffer from a curse of madness, even the illegitimate by-blows of the family become stricken with insanity after they reach puberty. Her mother ends up in a mental asylum after trying to kill Alyssa when she was a small child, she and her father both suffer knowing Alison is mad; her father because he still deeply loves his wife, and Alyssa because she knows she is doomed to the same fate. They often visit her mother in the asylum, even if each visit is painful to them both, seeing their loved one in the grips of madness.

Alyssa has a close friend, Jeb, who is dating Taelor (I hate her already just by her name), the stereotypical beautiful, spoiled rich girl nemesis. Alyssa has been an outcast in school her entire life ever since Taelor reveals that Alyssa is descended from Alice Liddell. She is subsequently bullied and ridiculed by the other kids for her connection to the Alice of yore. I don't really understand the grounds for this: being related to the original Alice...that's pretty awesome. I would say it's more of a claim to fame, particularly in grade school, rather than anything over which to be ostracized.

Alyssa rebels by becoming a skater, wearing as much makeup, hair dye, and dreadlocks as possible to disguise who she really is (the fact that Jeb calls her "Skater Girl" really gives me Avril Lavigne vibes). When the latest visit to her mother in the asylum turns violent, her father is desperate enough to resort to consent to electroconvulsive therapy, Alyssa tries to save her mother by turning to the mysterious boy in her believed hallucinations. She finds herself down the rabbit hole in a darker version of Wonderland, and is accidentally joined by a stubborn and reluctant Jeb. In Wonderland, she meets the boy of whom she dreams, Morpheus, who has appeared in her dreams since she was a child. He tells her to go on a series of quests to fulfill her mission in order to save her mother.

The creatures she encounters along the way are definitely based upon the original Alice books, albeit remarkably more twisted. The recent adaptation of Alice by Tim Burton has got nothing on the creepiness of the creatures in this book. I love the clever spin and connection of the original tale with the methods that Alyssa uses to resolve through the dangers she encounters along the way.

I love the portrayal of mental illness, and the heroine is someone I actually like, despite my mental image of her being Avril Lavigne. I find it so hard to like most characters in YA novels; most of them are either too damn stubborn (coming from the cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face school), too annoying and contrary, or just plain TSTL. I am happy to say that Alyssa is neither. She is smart, thoughtful, intelligent, and can figure shit out for herself.

I disliked the main love interest. Jeb doesn't seem good enough for her; he is overbearing, overprotective, and is the type who denies his own feelings FOR HER SAKE. No thank you, that's not my definition of love. I just wanted to smack Jeb away and leave Alyssa alone to do her thing, because frankly, she repeatedly demonstrates a capability of managing on her own.

The plot was great in the beginning, but drifts off in a myriad of confusion in the latter third of the book. The plot became confusing to me, twisting more and more until I didn't really understand what was going on anymore. By the end, I still wasn't sure what happened to resolve the plot. The confusing latter plot and messy ending was my reason for taking off a star, otherwise, it was a beautiful, surreal, fantastically imaginative read....more

Splintered seems to be another instance where I appear as the black sheep. I've seen numerous positive reviews of the novel before I went into it, and came out feeling pretty disappointed. A book I even thought at first I would absolutely love, ended up being just a little too drawn out. I had little love for the characters, and the fascinating twists came a little too late to grab a higher rating.

I will say, the novel is not a complete let-down, especially for Alice in Wonderland fans. I, myselSplintered seems to be another instance where I appear as the black sheep. I've seen numerous positive reviews of the novel before I went into it, and came out feeling pretty disappointed. A book I even thought at first I would absolutely love, ended up being just a little too drawn out. I had little love for the characters, and the fascinating twists came a little too late to grab a higher rating.

I will say, the novel is not a complete let-down, especially for Alice in Wonderland fans. I, myself, have never been a junkie of classic fairy tales, but out of all, Alice remains one of my favorites. Thus, I was instantly taken by the plot in Splintered. It has great connections to the Alice story we've known for years, taking us into the lives of Alice's very own great-great-granddaughter--Alyssa. By 20%, I was fully enraptured in this tale by which time I had incredibly high hopes for, thinking it a for sure winner. Sadly, when the initial high of this exciting plot peaks, it quickly crashes into an adventure filled with so many detours and a tiresome love triangle. It made it hard for me to even finish it.

To draw a picture of this love triangle: we have Jeb, a jerk who Alyssa is head over heals in love with. The boy next door who inadvertently becomes Alyssa's sidekick in this twisted wonderland, Jeb is not likeable at all. Mostly, he's boring, and any personality he does have includes him being irritating in his behaviour towards Alyssa. Sure I've seen worse love interests, he's hardly even in my least favorite, but his character is simply not attractive in the least. His obvious denied love for Alyssa, and their "we love each other but we can't because (insert lame reason here)" relationship is exhausting. Then comes Morpheus, a Wonderland native who is also madly in love with Alyssa and trying to win her over. I actually did not mind him. Sure he's a wanker, but he's abruptly honest about his personality so you can't help but just accept that he is who he is. We're not "supposed" to like him, so, as usual, I loved to hate him. :D

Honestly, I don't abhor love triangles as much as most, but I need to understand why it exist, and in this case it felt too much like the romance was there just because. It took too much attention off of the plot, which is by far the best modern Alice story I've read. The middle section could have easily been cut in half. Alyssa is taken on so many runarounds without getting any answers that it takes a lot of patience to get through this book. I'm not known for my patience…

I will have to say, however, that at the end I was thoroughly satisfied with the way the story played out. Cut out the romance, the long winded deviations, a boring protagonist, and we have ourselves a 5-star! (…crickets…) In all honesty, the main plot is fantastic. The plays on the original Alice, and the way the author makes it her own with unique twists is worth the read for that alone! I loved how we get a completely new "no, this is what actually happened" story. It's brilliant! This leads me to recommend this novel to any Alice fan, regardless of my issues with the less endearing parts of this novel. Just, be patient.

So I had to re-read this book, and I'm actually glad that I did, because a lot of the stuff in here--especially a huge chunk of the last half--I'd completely forgotten. Oh, and I have no idea why I ever considered myself Team Morpheus in the first place. He's kind of an ass. Actually I'm neither on Morpheus nor Jeb's side. I don't exactly love either of them. But I do love this book even now, exactly two years after my first read. I can finally read Unhinged now that I know all the necessary detSo I had to re-read this book, and I'm actually glad that I did, because a lot of the stuff in here--especially a huge chunk of the last half--I'd completely forgotten. Oh, and I have no idea why I ever considered myself Team Morpheus in the first place. He's kind of an ass. Actually I'm neither on Morpheus nor Jeb's side. I don't exactly love either of them. But I do love this book even now, exactly two years after my first read. I can finally read Unhinged now that I know all the necessary details....more

For this review, I will be utilizing the gloriously expressive face of Tom Hiddleston.

To Splintered, I would basically just like to say one thing:

When I saw the blurb for this book, I was a little unsure. I love Alice in Wonderland (both the book and the Disney movie...along with like, every adaptation there's ever been). But the bit about Alyssa maybe being crazy sounded weird, and I'd also heard some negative things about Alice in Zombieland, so I was sort of wary of any YA take on this classiFor this review, I will be utilizing the gloriously expressive face of Tom Hiddleston.

To Splintered, I would basically just like to say one thing:

When I saw the blurb for this book, I was a little unsure. I love Alice in Wonderland (both the book and the Disney movie...along with like, every adaptation there's ever been). But the bit about Alyssa maybe being crazy sounded weird, and I'd also heard some negative things about Alice in Zombieland, so I was sort of wary of any YA take on this classic.

Y'all, I'm here to tell you: don't be afraid to read this book! It is wonderful in every way.

Basically, this book made me feel lots of feels. The good kind.

This is one of those times where I can't find anything to criticize. I liked the heroine, I liked the love interests (yes, TWO!), I liked the pacing and the plot, and I liked the writing style.

But probably my favorite part of the book was the worldbuilding. Howard takes the original Alice mythology and not only expands on it but also changes it in a lot of ways. This is NOT the Wonderland from Lewis Carroll's children's book; it's darker, more terrifying. But it's still magical and gorgeous, and I kind of wanted to live there despite the scary bits.

Howard's writing is very visual, conjuring up these great images that really help you share her vision for Wonderland. Everything is described beautifully, and I can't help wishing this could be a movie or TV show or something. I feel like it would be gorgeous.

Also, this is sort of a small thing, but I loved that the clothes are described so thoroughly. Personally, I'm into fashion. And I love it when our heroine is too. And there are LOTS of cool clothes in this book. Everybody dresses sort of punk/alternative, so that was really fun.

Now, I MUST gush about the romance.

Hats off to you, Ms. Howard, for writing not one but two very hot boys. One of which is super creepy but so totally awesome in a scare-the-pants-off-you sort of way. Why is he so awesome? Because he's FREAKING MORPHEUS!

Now, most of you probably think this when you see the name "Morpheus":

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The cool people, however, think of this:

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But in A.G. Howard's book, Morpheus is one very delicious netherling with black wings, a Cockney accent, and a fetish for well-made hats. I loved him. He's the sort of bad boy you love to read about (but totally never want to meet in real life).

Then there's Jeb, the best-friend-turned-lover type but who's not really the boy next door. He's got lots of issues, but he's not brooding or mean. It was nice reading about a guy who has angst but isn't a douche. Yeah, he was protective, but I didn't think in the cliche, annoying sort of way you find a lot in YA. He was adorable, and while I sometimes wished he could have taken a more active role in the plot (he often plays sidekick to Alyssa - but, hey, this is HER story, not his), I really enjoyed reading the scenes he was in.

Splintered is probably one of the coolest, most imaginative YA books I've ever read. It's a mixture of a lot of my favorite things, and I found it a lot different than other fantasy titles out there. It side-stepped a lot of the cliches, I thought, and the premise is just so incredibly interesting that it was impossible for me to not fall head-over-heels for it.

I sure wish now that I'd taken the blue pill and not read this book...

On paper, a book might seem like many things. Some might seem like rage-inducing snooze fests directed at sexist people with a death wish. Incredibly epic, of course, is the preferred synopsis of choice. When I picked up SPLINTERED, glossed over the synopsis a few times, and took it in with a final hard look, I saw one word flash across my eyes – AWESOME. And that was what I took when I opened my Kindle and started this one. S

I sure wish now that I'd taken the blue pill and not read this book...

On paper, a book might seem like many things. Some might seem like rage-inducing snooze fests directed at sexist people with a death wish. Incredibly epic, of course, is the preferred synopsis of choice. When I picked up SPLINTERED, glossed over the synopsis a few times, and took it in with a final hard look, I saw one word flash across my eyes – AWESOME. And that was what I took when I opened my Kindle and started this one. Sometimes, though, a synopsis misleads you. For me, SPLINTERED seemed epic in a Tim Burton-esque way. In reality, it was a one way trip to Hot Topic where they were having a blowout sale on Alice in Wonderland merchandise with Johnny Depp’s face plastered everywhere.

SPLINTERED is the story of Alyssa, the daughter of a woman afflicted with severe psychiatric issues, and the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of others similarly affected. Alyssa herself can hear bugs and flowers speaking to her. With her love interest Jeb, a brooding artist currently dating the high strung and stereotypical enemy Taelor, Alyssa goes on a hunt to destroy the curse, leading her down the rabbit hole right into Wonderland.

The first 20% of this book is a tedious exposition on Alyssa’s current life. Her mother is at Soul’s Asylum, where she eats only out of tea cups among other strange things. Alyssa skateboards and listens to music while mooning over artist Jeb, a boy who draws her in his sketchbook and dreams of going to London – on the dime of his girlfriend Taelor’s father, sadly – to start his career. There is a strong focus on the fact he has a garnet-studded labret piercing.

This was my first warning that I might not like this book. I never was into the goth, emo, Hot Topic-type scene other than secretly listening to Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson on my iPod occasionally. SPLINTERED’s focus is not so much on a strong, well-plotted story as much as it is on concentrating on imagery that Tim Burton might be proud of if Tim Burton put in fake dreads and made Edward Skateboardhands instead of Scissorhands. SPLINTERED tries too hard to be cool, and loses itself in the process.

I never connected to any of the characters, including our heroine Alyssa. The rest of the cast became a massive blur punctuated by the occasional strange character that never was developed. By the time the book ended after a meandering course of wild goose chases and strange trips that made no sense, many of the characters became a singular mass of boring and blah. Likewise, the plot was muddled, confusing, and at times the imagery – remarkably well thought out, if a little too obnoxious in the descriptions – became lost in confusing schpiels about mooning and being angry with Jeb and Morpheus, the extremely jerky other love interest/man-moth hybrid thing. I’m still not sure about that.

SPLINTERED suffers heavily from an over emphasis on the romance and being different and loses itself in the process. We are drawn into a love triangle that I found to be rather unappealing, seeing as how I didn’t like Jeb or Morpheus. In fact, I quite hated Morpheus and didn’t see what Alyssa saw in him other than the moth that she was BFFs with when she was little, which wasn’t creepy at all. Oh, and the psychiatry in this book? It seemed like Tom Cruise at times was lecturing me. I must be glib.

VERDICT: Sometimes, a book and a reader just don’t mesh. This happened to me with SPLINTERED sadly. Too much romance and not enough plot make Megan a dull girl.

Alyssa is a descendant of Alice Liddell- the Alice who inspired Carroll to write his tale of white rabbits and fantastical creatures. But, Alyssa has a family secret: the women of her bloodline go insane when they come of age.

She tries to look on the positive side of this: "At least one good thing has come out of my inherited insanity. Without the delusions, I might never have found my artistic medium." pg 10, ebook.

Alyssa is in love with Jeb, a dark and brooding young man with a penchant for grAlyssa is a descendant of Alice Liddell- the Alice who inspired Carroll to write his tale of white rabbits and fantastical creatures. But, Alyssa has a family secret: the women of her bloodline go insane when they come of age.

She tries to look on the positive side of this: "At least one good thing has come out of my inherited insanity. Without the delusions, I might never have found my artistic medium." pg 10, ebook.

Alyssa is in love with Jeb, a dark and brooding young man with a penchant for grunge clothing and a lip piercing (that she talks about all the time). But, he is dating the most popular girl in Alyssa's high school class, Taelor (of course).

Things get really exciting when Alyssa starts to hear voices coming from the bugs and plants.

After a brief introduction where the reader learns that Jeb is freakishly controlling and Alyssa's mother is in an insane asylum, she falls through a mirror and after some trials, finds her way into Wonderland.

I thought this could have been a potentially interesting re-telling of the classic Alice in Wonderland story, but Splintered's uniqueness is stifled under a bunch of teen angst and a love triangle.

Granted, I'm not the target audience for this book, but I'd been on a roll lately with awesome fairy tale re-tellings and I thought I'd give it a shot. Oh well.

I actually enjoyed A.G. Howard's interpretation of Wonderland itself. The characters were familiar but twisted slightly.

Here's a passage from the tea party- my favorite part: "Now we need to get back to our world. Like yesterday." "Yesterday, you say?" the hatmaker warbles in his bouncing timbre. "Yesterday is doable." Guffawing, the hare slaps a knee and adds, "Although two yesterdays would be impossible." The Door Mouse snickers, slipping back into his uniform. "No, no! You can retrogress as many yesterdays as you please. Simply walk backward the rest of your life." pg 187, ebook.

Howard nailed the classic characterizations, but Carroll's original creations were far superior to Alyssa, Jeb, and Morpheus, who were her main contributions to the story.

Disregard my opinions on this book if you simply must read any and all fairy tale re-tellings because, at the very least, it is that.

Just be aware what you're picking up- a young adult romance/coming of age- and if that's what you're in the mood for, you may really enjoy it.

I find that my expectations shape my opinion of a book almost as much as the text itself. For example, I think if I had been warned that Alice in Zombieland had really very little to do with the Wonderland story, I may not have disliked it as much as I did.

Splintered actually has a lot of the original Wonderland in it and, if I had to choose between Alice in Zombieland or Splintered, I'd pick this in a heartbeat.

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality.

I really loved – LOVED THIS BOOK! It really has the Alice in wonderland feeling with a twist – I would love to see this one in the Cinema’s YES THAT IS HOW MUCH I LOVED IT! :D

I will compare this book as drinking a good chocolate milkshake – I LOVE THOSE :D

For NA-PNR – this book is amazing and I will highly recommend it – to readers over the age of 12!

“Memories, real and irreplaceable, all of them. The happy ones, the bitter ones, the terrified and the poignant.”

“Tearing down the rest of the world won't make you happy. Look inside yourself. Because finding who you were meant to be? What you were put into this world to do? That's what fills the emptiness. It's the only things that can.”

A.G. Howard’s Splintered is tied with Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland as the best modernized take on Lewis Carroll’s classic that I’ve read, better than Frank Beddor’s The Looking Glass Wars. That is a very low bar.

Our heroine, who narrates her tale in first-person present-tense, is Alyssa Gardner, the great-great-great-great…granddaughter of Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Carroll’s book. Her heritage is a well-known fact in her hometown, as is the fact that each woman in the family lineA.G. Howard’s Splintered is tied with Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland as the best modernized take on Lewis Carroll’s classic that I’ve read, better than Frank Beddor’s The Looking Glass Wars. That is a very low bar.

Our heroine, who narrates her tale in first-person present-tense, is Alyssa Gardner, the great-great-great-great…granddaughter of Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Carroll’s book. Her heritage is a well-known fact in her hometown, as is the fact that each woman in the family line since the original Alice has lost her mind. (In real life, nothing of the kind happened to Alice. This would hurt me if I were a descendant of hers; it bothers me enough as no relation). The kids in town have always taunted Alyssa about her ancestry, especially since her mom needed to be institutionalized.

Alyssa’s father is a sweetheart, but utterly clueless. She also has a friend named Jeb, who veers between disinterest in, and creepy flirtation with, Alyssa. Alyssa claims that she’s always had a crush on Jeb (which is obvious) but that he sees her as his little sister (which is never conveyed). Jeb has a sister, who works at the same emo thrift store as Alyssa.

Luckily for Alyssa, she likes her job, she likes to skateboard, and she likes to stab insects and flowers and glue them onto her paintings, so she has some solace in life. She does not kill the bugs or plants for their own sake, but because she hears them talking to her – the first sign of her hereditary illness.

A trip to see her mom at the insane asylum – which appears to be frozen in the 1950s – goes so badly that harsh medical treatment (of the kind not seen today) is suggested. Terrified, Alyssa wracks her brain for a way to save her mom, and resurrects some long-forgotten memories, particularly her early childhood adventures with a shape-shifter, sometimes a moth, sometimes a blue-haired boy.

Sensing this being can help her somehow, Alyssa calls on him, and he appears in her closet mirror.

This opens a (stupidly complicated) portal to the same rabbit hole the original Alice fell down all those years ago. Unfortunately, she’s been pining over Jeb all evening and her thoughts summon him to her. Together, they venture into Wonderland.

After facing a number of dangerous creatures – dark versions of the talking flowers from Through the Looking Glass and the Walrus from Tweedledum and Tweedledee’s poem in the same book – and making out despite Jeb having a girlfriend at home – they find their way to the blue-haired, moth-winged young man, Morpheus the Netherling, a sorcerer and a kingmaker. Morpheus is pleased to see Alyssa, but incensed at Jeb tagging along.

In his creepy palace, Morpheus explains to Alyssa that she is the rightful Queen of Wonderland (somehow) and he wants to crown her and save the kingdom. He might have done a better job explaining if he had stuck to explaining and not spent quite so much time hitting on her.

He holds a disturbing feast—where the duck entrée is still alive despite being cooked and wants to be eaten—which turns chaotic due to…something (it’s been a few months since I’ve read the book, and the book did not bat a thousand for coherency). Alyssa somehow discovers that Morpheus is in love with the White Queen, who ostensibly died years ago but has survived in a magical box – a Jabberlock. Apparently all his scheming on her behalf was really for the sake of his old darling instead. Feeling betrayed on a number of levels, the girl turns her back on Morpheus and flees with Jeb.

Alyssa and Jeb traverse Wonderland, meeting strange creatures, kissing, and having stupid arguments because he’s a jealous creep and convinced that something untoward happened between her and Morpheus (never mind him and Taylor back home).

Eventually (thank God!) they get separated, and Alyssa has to traverse the Wonderland of the Dead on her own, searching for the cure for her mom. Successful, she comes back to Morpheus and reaches a compromise with him. He wants to help her now – he claims he always has – and together they kill a monster. She finds out that Jeb is dead, but wishes to undo the whole adventure and saves him.

At home, she restores her mother’s sanity, makes peace with Morpheus, confronts Jeb’s cartoon of a girlfriend, and makes out with Jeb himself. The end, for now.

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As you can see, this book had very little plot. Two characters had a pulse (guess who they were) and the others, one in particular, were dead weight. The heroine’s relationships with her two suitors seemed based entirely on hormones; it seemed that every conversation with either Jeb or Morpheus deteriorated into a make-out session.

Yet the world-building was actually quite good. Many of Howard’s inventions – such as the Jabberlock – are perfectly Carrollian. She also has a good eye for visuals, and her taste in books and movies is similar to mine. There are plenty of references to The Phantom Of The Opera, Labyrinth, and the myth of Hades and Persephone. Morpheus and Alyssa are clearly meant to be such a pair, following the footsteps of Erik and Christine, and Jareth and Sarah. Sometimes they even almost measure up.

Jeb is supposed to be the Raoul to Morpheus’ Erik, and he is abysmal at it. His only useful quality is his brawn, which comes in handy when facing monsters, but Alyssa is almost always able to save the day herself through magic or charm. Meanwhile, Jeb is possessive, patronizing, and hypocritical – but portrayed as the “nice guy”, the safe Betty to Morpheus’ Veronica. Howard keeps telling us that Jeb and Alyssa have chemistry, but I don’t see it and never did.

In short, there is no reason for Jeb Holt to exist. Removing him would cut out half the silly make-out scenes, make Alyssa far more developed by forcing her to travel the strange world alone, and free up time for more world-building, an actual plot, and some character development for Morpheus so he doesn’t come across as nothing more than the pale little brother of Erik or Jareth. Labyrinth was just fine without a love triangle.

The book also comes across as oddly dated, given the Hot Topic imagery found throughout. I am convinced that Morpheus, with his jagged hair, guyliner, and penchant for top hats and cravats, is based on an emo band frontman – Andy Biersack (Black Veil Brides), Bill Kaulitz (Tokio Hotel), Brendon Urie (Panic! at the Disco) and Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) are all possibilities – and Alyssa, with her long fair hair, heavy makeup, skateboarding, and sass, could not be more clearly patterned on Avril Lavigne. Alas for Howard, she published the book in 2013, and this particular party was pretty much over by 2010, but honestly it does not appear to have hurt her sales.

Content Advisory:

Violence: There’s the whole horrid scene with the cooked, live meats, where nothing is shown but much is implied. There’s also a fair amount of blood, although little actual death, and still-living severed heads are preserved in a magical box.

Language: I don’t remember any terrible words, but it’s been awhile.

Sex: Lots of kissing, described in great detail. There are points where things could escalate between Alyssa and either boy, but they never do.

Substance Abuse: People ingest alcohol at Morpheus’ feast, and given the subject of the book there’s a few inevitable drug jokes. Pretty mild.

In conclusion, Splintered is a beautifully printed book, and its prose isn’t bad. It has a lot of potential as a story, too. But Jeb is a simply terrible character, who holds the story back by contributing nothing and forcing a love triangle where it’s not needed. The sequels are worth reading, but they could have been so much better if he just. Didn't. Exist....more

I have no words to describe how terrible Splintered was. Alice in Wonderland is a childhood favourite of mine, so I had pretty high expectations of Splintered. Unfortunately, I didn't like much anything about it. The plot was overdone. Way overdone. Alice the great-great-grandmother, then Alicia, then Alison, then Alyssa!? That is a bit much, don't you think?I was expecting a bit more from the plot. A little more substance and a little less...I found the whole thing a bit stupid. And don't evenI have no words to describe how terrible Splintered was. Alice in Wonderland is a childhood favourite of mine, so I had pretty high expectations of Splintered. Unfortunately, I didn't like much anything about it. The plot was overdone. Way overdone. Alice the great-great-grandmother, then Alicia, then Alison, then Alyssa!? That is a bit much, don't you think?I was expecting a bit more from the plot. A little more substance and a little less...I found the whole thing a bit stupid. And don't even get me started on Jeb. Jeez. What a loser. He helped ruin the book for me, among many other things. I almost didn't finish this. It seems to drag on and on, and the version of the book that I read had a PURPLE FONT. Yes, PURPLE. I hate fonts that are not black and normal looking. HATE THEM. It annoyed me the whole way as I struggled through the words.I am sorry to say can honestly say that this was one of the worst books I have read in 2016. Terrible. I've yet to find a fairy-tale retelling I love. ...more

Ok, unpopular opinion time: I love most retellings, but would rather just read the original Alice in Wonderland than see it get ruined like this.

I did like some creative elements of this version of Wonderland! But the story itself was weird, full of YA cliches and slut-shaming, and just didn't hold my attention.

The part that really killed the story for me was the characters... I didn't necessarily like any of them, honestly. The Jeb guy was super controlling, condescending, and possessive -- aOk, unpopular opinion time: I love most retellings, but would rather just read the original Alice in Wonderland than see it get ruined like this.

I did like some creative elements of this version of Wonderland! But the story itself was weird, full of YA cliches and slut-shaming, and just didn't hold my attention.

The part that really killed the story for me was the characters... I didn't necessarily like any of them, honestly. The Jeb guy was super controlling, condescending, and possessive -- and what's up with him having a girlfriend but still having some awkward virginity talk with Alyssa? And I really couldn't stand Alyssa. At all.

BUT a ton of people absolutely love this series. Almost everyone I follow gave it 4-5 stars, so definitely check it out for yourself!! ...more

3 out of 5 stars (Please read my rating system below). I'm so glad that I finally got a chance to read this book! I met the author about 2 years ago so it was about time that I got a chance to read her work. Let me just say, A.G. Howard is one of the coolest authors you'll ever meet! I highly recommend going to one of her signings if you ever get the chance to. My favorite part of this bookBuy this book on: | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Audible | BookDepository (FREE WORLDWIDESHIPPING) |

3 out of 5 stars (Please read my rating system below). I'm so glad that I finally got a chance to read this book! I met the author about 2 years ago so it was about time that I got a chance to read her work. Let me just say, A.G. Howard is one of the coolest authors you'll ever meet! I highly recommend going to one of her signings if you ever get the chance to. My favorite part of this book would hands down be the character Morpheus. I love a character that has mixed intentions, lies a little (hehe, sorry not sorry), and is suppppppppper snarky. MORPHEUS HANDS DOWN MADE THIS BOOK FOR ME. I really didn't care Jeb, the love triangle, or dialogue. Alyssa unfortunately did not stand out to me as a super unique protagonist, but Morpheus guys, MORPHEUS. One moment he's the villain, the next he's a friend, the next he's a lover. LIKE THE GUY IS SO CONFUSING, MESMERIZING, CONFLICTING, AND I NEED MORE ADJECTIVES. I'm reading the rest of the series for Morpheus.

My rating system: (I do use half stars.)5 - I do not use the 5 star. Not because a book might not be worthy, but because a book is never perfect.4 - I loved it! There weren't too many flaws, and I had no trouble getting through it. (A 4 star rating is the highest rating I've ever given a book.)3 - I enjoyed the book, but there we're flaws that made me enjoy it less.2 - I finished the book, but there were too many flaws for me to enjoy it.1 - I could not finish the book, and I probably did not finish it.......more

Splintered reads exactly like The Iron King, except without the awesomeness of Puck and Grimalkin.

Both have incredible world-building. Even me, who has never officially watched Alice in Wonderland (Which come to think of it, is a serious flaw in my Disney education) can see the parallels Howard drew between the original and this wonderful reimagining. Old friends are here: the talking flowers, Cheshire cat, the Caterpillar (I'll get to Morpheus a bit later) and I absolutely loved the concept ofSplintered reads exactly like The Iron King, except without the awesomeness of Puck and Grimalkin.

Both have incredible world-building. Even me, who has never officially watched Alice in Wonderland (Which come to think of it, is a serious flaw in my Disney education) can see the parallels Howard drew between the original and this wonderful reimagining. Old friends are here: the talking flowers, Cheshire cat, the Caterpillar (I'll get to Morpheus a bit later) and I absolutely loved the concept of Alyssa being a descendant of the original Alice.

The one thing that irked me were the love interests. Or more specially, a macho dominating asshole by the name of Jeb.

I hated him. I hated him. I hated him. He bosses Alyssa around all the time like he's her fucking dad. He orders Al to eat (Hey, look, Edward/Xavier are in Wonderland too!) He thinks the most important part of Al is her virginity.

"Al." His Adam's apple moves as he swallows. "I want you to put a stop to this Hitch thing. Whatever's going on, it's not worth..." He pauses. "Losing an important part of you."

Unbelievable. He thinks I'm such a prude, he won't even say the word. "You mean my virginity?"

Because that fucking slip of membrane is so important. Do you want to forbid Ally from riding bikes too, huh, Jeb? That sonofabitch triangular seat is getting hot and cosy with Al's virginity. Are you going to take a sledgehammer to that?

He is an absolute jackass and destroyed what should have been an awesome book. And you know what the worst part is—(view spoiler)[I'm 99.9% sure he's the guy Al is going to choose in the end. (hide spoiler)]

Now onto Morpheus—the other half of the love triangle. (It's not really a spoiler, we all knew there was going to be one) Just as Jeb is cast in the role of the douchebag steadfast best friend, Morpheus is the dark, intriguing stranger who shrouded in secrecy.

The thing is, I've never been drawn to the dark, broody types. I prefer Pucks as opposed to Ashes. But thanks to the utter despicableness of Jeb, I have no choice but to root for him. And honestly, he sort of won me over in the end (view spoiler)[ when he sacrificed himself for Al. How can you not love a guy like that?(hide spoiler)]

Plus, he's sexy. 'Nuff said.

The other thing that irked me was Alyssa's bone with Taelor. It's like the author wants us to hate her, what with her cool-girl vibes and hippy name.

Sure, she's dating your best friend aka the guy you like, but that's no reason to be a bitch to her. Or (view spoiler)[steal her money for that matter (hide spoiler)] And you never made a move, so you can't blame her if Taelor swooped in first.

Splintered is based upon real life Alice Liddell's story as created by Lewis Carroll. Little Alice pictured here. The females in her line all are inheriting madness. They here bugs and plants talking. Refuse to eat off of plates (teacups please). Until we come across Alyssa-she does not want to end up in the mental hospital and will venture down the rabbit's hole in order to stop it.

This author did an amazing job on bringing a fairy tale to life. Creepy and so very easy pictured in your mind,Splintered is based upon real life Alice Liddell's story as created by Lewis Carroll. Little Alice pictured here. The females in her line all are inheriting madness. They here bugs and plants talking. Refuse to eat off of plates (teacups please). Until we come across Alyssa-she does not want to end up in the mental hospital and will venture down the rabbit's hole in order to stop it.

This author did an amazing job on bringing a fairy tale to life. Creepy and so very easy pictured in your mind, Wonderland comes to glorious life in the book.Splintered vs the Disney version is more like this:OH and Morpheus...yes I do want you. ...more

I've been "reading" this for so long. All I know is that the only thing that will probably come out of my review for this one, is a rant. As much as I love slamming sexist novels, I think I'll take a break from attempting to get into "Splintered"(I had no idea it included sexism when I purchased it). For now it shall sit on my shelf, waiting until further notice.Maybe I'll return to it at the end of my YA-hype experiment.

Of course I was gonna go crazy when I saw this was a retelling of that classic (if you don't believe me, just look at the pre-review below, which I wrote like two years aI'm gonna be honest with you: I liked Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. It may seem like a bunch of nonsense, but I liked it. And the same can be said about Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There - this one being even more nonsense, but the plot was more clever... if something that makes no sense can be clever.

Of course I was gonna go crazy when I saw this was a retelling of that classic (if you don't believe me, just look at the pre-review below, which I wrote like two years ago). Besides, this had all the potential for being a great story. Lovers of Alice and fantasy would find a treat in here. I'm both of those, yet this was completely underwhelming.

But let's get done with the good first, which can be reduced to one thing: The writing. Not over-the-roofs beautiful, but it's descriptive and makes the story flow easily. The author describes in detail how everything looks through the eyes of Alyssa, the subject to a curse that runs in the veins of all the females descendant of Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Carroll's book.

Everyone in her family has been tagged as crazy ever since the original Alice got out of the rabbit hole. Of course, they really aren't crazy - they're telling the truth, but this truth is what got them tagged as insane in the first place. Now Alyssa fears the same will happen to her, especially since she hears the voice of insects talking to her. But she's determined to break this curse to save her mother Alison, so she goes down the rabbit hole again, and won't come back until she has accomplished her mission.

For starters, this tagging everyone in her family as crazy annoyed the hell out of me. Sure, if someone came to me to tell me a grasshopper told her I should take care of myself, I would be weirded out, but I wouldn't take it seriously. The person may have been making things up, or indeed, their mind in fact thinks a grasshopper did that, but is that a reason to apply 19th century treatments to them? No.

You see, the portrayal of mental illness in this book makes me sick in so many levels. Take a look at some things:

Crazies like Alison - all they have are padded cells and blunted utensils. That's their normal.

And not to mention Alyssa fears they're gonna use straitjackets on her too:

Most of my makeup has been cried and rained off, leaving smudge tracks on my face. Now all I see is Alison. But if I look deeper, it’s me wearing a straitjacket and an eel turban, grimacing like the Cheshire Cat as I sip pot roast from a teacup.

This is what annoyed me the most in this book. That alone would have settled my decision to rate this 1 star, but no, something else that made me even more angry had to be added. What's that, you ask? It's an abusive romance.

Some people find cute when a guy is possessive over her girlfriend because "he wants the best for her." I'm not one of those people. Jeb gave me nauseas every time he appeared. He's not hot. He's not sweet. He's an asshole. Proof #1 is this:

“Al.” His Adam’s apple moves as he swallows. “I want you to put a stop to this Hitch thing. Whatever’s going on, it’s not worth …” He pauses. “Losing an important part of you.”Unbelievable. He thinks I’m such a prude, he won’t even say the word. “You mean my virginity?”His neck flashes red. “You deserve better than some one-night thing. You’re the kind of girl who should have a commitment from a guy who actually cares. Okay?”

Because not only does he have a girlfriend already and has done what he thinks Alyssa will do and worse with other girls, but he also thinks he can have the final word when it comes to Alyssa's virginity. Look, it's not his problem if she wants to screw a hundred guys. Why can he do it and not her? It doesn't matter she was lying. What bothers me is his attitude.

Being so possessive about Alyssa doesn't go only as far as her virginity, though. Remember the little synopsis I added at the beginning? About Alyssa being determined to break the curse? Well, this guy doesn't give a damn about that. He doesn't care Alyssa wants to save her mother (ignoring all the offensive and stupid things about the bad portrayal of mental illness). He only wants Alyssa for himself and won't let her go and try. And all that because of why? Because a guy - Morpheus - knows Alyssa from dreams.

“No.” Jeb crosses my arms over my chest, then lifts me against one of the curtains on the wall so my feet dangle, pinning me like a butterfly to a corkboard. “We’re not going anywhere. That foaming freak thinks you stole those gloves. And now he knows your name. Very smooth, by the way.”

Honestly, I don't understand why she's so attracted to him. She even fears him:

Jeb’s supposed to meet me here. I’m dying to see him again but at the same time nervous about how he’ll react to my decision to help Morpheus without talking things over with him first.

Look, if you feel you need to ask the permission of a guy for saving your mother, you should also feel there's something fishy going on there. Worse even if you worry what he'll do when he finds out you did something without asking him for that permission first. That will only lead to an unhealthy relationship in which he controls her and will probably get to the point of hitting her (not saying he did, by the way). What she said there is enough for cutting every connection she had to him.

Also, you can't just take all the elements in a book, make slight changes to their names and call that a retelling. Because yes, this book only feels as if the author mixed the two Alice books written by Carroll with that movie and then she just switched some letters in the names of everything. For example, Rabid White is the White Rabbit, Queen Red is... well, it's obvious, and Humphrey is Humpty Dumpty.

Knowing all the possible options in which she could have made this a retelling, why did she have to go to the easiest and less imaginative one?

Then there's something else that bothered me. It's this line of the book:

Pausing, he traces a finger along the door’s frame. “The last place she remembered having it was at your store. But she figured you would’ve contacted her if you’d found it. You didn’t see it, right?”I push down the guilt nudging me. “No. And I’m not her royal majesty’s purse keeper, FYI.”

I had said I liked the writing, and it's true, I liked the descriptions, but I don't think it's professional to type "FYI" instead of "for your information" in a book. It's even weirder because that was part of a dialogue. It's one thing to type that in text messages, but in dialogues? It just made me go like this:

I don't think there's anything in this book that saves it from a 1-star rating, to be honest. And nothing can convince me to read the sequel, either, because 1) this could have perfectly been a standalone, and 2) I'm not interested anymore. I don't want to know anything about Jeb or the love triangle between Jeb, Alyssa and Morpheus, or this "curse." A.G. Howard has lost me. I'm leaving this rabbit hole for good.

__________________________

Pre-review:

*Looks for Splintered by A.G. Howard*

*Sees this:*

This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

*Immediatly adds to "to-read" shelf*

It's a retelling of Alice In Wonderland, guys! Of course I'm going to read it. Besides, look at that cover. It could convinve anyone to read it it sounds interesting and many people say it's good. So, yeah, I will read it...soon...when I find time......more

Despite my one big and glaring problem Jeb with this book, I enjoyed it better the second time around. On my first read some things seemed a bit confusing, but now that I’ve finished the second installment as well and know so much more about the characters and their motivations, it was really interesting to pick up on all the clues and read between the lines.

Despite my one big and glaring problem Jeb with this book, I enjoyed it better the second time around. On my first read some things seemed a bit confusing, but now that I’ve finished the second installment as well and know so much more about the characters and their motivations, it was really interesting to pick up on all the clues and read between the lines.

A.G. Howard managed to create an enticing world, twisting the original Wonderland story and its characters into darker versions of themselves. I liked the writing and the imagery was lush and gorgeous. Oh, and I loved the descriptions of everyone’s fashion style and outfits. They did add atmosphere to the story.

But if you asked me what I loved the most about the book, it would be this one guy with blue hair and black wings, who made the story come alive.

With the gray smog swirling around his sooty wings, he also reminds me of Jenara’s window display: a dark angel.Although he’s more of a devil.I know, because my childhood memories return in a crashing wave—slamming me with the name I haven’t spoken in eleven years.«Morpheus.” I say it more as an accusation than a revelation.The winged devil flashes his white teeth in a stunning smile that draws me in as it puts me on guard.

Oh, words cannot express how I love this guy! Might be one of my all-time favorite characters.He is deliciously devious and shamelessly wicked, but not to the point where you can call him a villain. He’s made of all shades of grey, incredibly selfish one moment, and heartbreakingly remorseful another.He is a mastermind pulling the strings, but as much a puppet as a puppeteer. He is the heartbeat of Wonderland and it’s soul.

«Morpheus is not his true name. He is glory and deprecation—sunlight and shadows—the scuttle of a scorpion and the melody of a nightingale. The breath of the sea and the cannonade of a storm. Can you relay birdsong, or the sound of wind, or the scurry of a creature across the sand? For the proper names of netherlings are made up of the life forces defining them. Can you speak these things with your tongue?»

Also, he is the other guy in this wretched love triangle, which makes it all the more frustrating, because I cannot fathom how can there really be any choice? I mean, who would you rather choose: a guy who offers you a throne in Wonderland, a whole new magic world you can explore, or a possessive and obsessive boyfriend and ordinary life in the human realm? Hmm, if it is the latter, one has to wonder why you are reading fantasy in the first place.

So you see, I really wish this book didn't have to rely on the love triangle all that much. It could have been a truly fantastic love story and adventure with just Alyssa and Morpheus. Too bad the heroine is probably going to end up with Jeb anyway.

*MAJOR JEB RANT AHEAD*

I would have given it 5 stars if not for Jeb, the fucking love interest, a controlling, obsessive and stupid disaster who almost ruined the whole thing and made me want to murder him more often than not.

I guess I need to get all the frustration out of my system before I start writing about the good stuff. I swear I’ve never hated a love interest in a book more than Jeb. I never even knew it was possible to hate a character so much. Until last summer, when I was first introduced to the series. Even as I’m writing this, I’m shaking with rage and have a pounding headache. I want to shove him into a vanishing cabinet and never ever hear of him again. Oh, it was a torture how much space he occupied in the heroine’s mind. It was always Jeb this and Jeb that, Jeb, Jeb, Jeb … *pulls out her shotgun*

“Bless me that I didn’t eat; elsewise, I’d be qualmish at such a nauseating display.” (Morpheus about Jeb and Alyssa)

If you wonder why I hate him so much, I’m going to explain. Ladies and gentlemen, behold this “sweet and protective” guy (warning: this is going to be a long list of quotes).

"Did I tell you Jeb threatened to turn Bret into a smashed pumpkin if I don’t get home by midnight?"***"I’m her great—”“No one,” Jeb interrupts as he steps between me and the creature. He won’t let me out from behind him. I sense him going for the knife in his pocket and clutch his arm to stop him. Then I peer around his shoulder.***Jeb hisses and his shoulders tense***Jeb tucks the knife away and grabs me before I can follow the creature into the hallway. “What was that?” His fingers dig into my shoulders as I strain to break free.***"No.” Jeb crosses my arms over my chest, then lifts me against one of the curtains on the wall so my feet dangle, pinning me like a butterfly to a corkboard. “We’re not going anywhere."***Snarling, Jeb slips the backpack from his arms. ***“We’re done.” He’s not even listening to me now. “I’m getting you somewhere safe.”***“I told you not to touch her.” His deep voice is hoarse yet calm, making the hair on my neck stand on end.Morpheus makes the mistake of laughing, and Jeb snaps. One hand clutching Morpheus’s neck, he punches him"***“Stay away from her.”***“Hands off, you son of a bug!”***“He had you in his room?” A dark cloud crosses Jeb’s face. “Do you swear he didn’t try anything?”***“No touching,” Jeb snarls.***“Did he touch you? Hurt you?” Jeb whispers in the silence.***Jeb grinds his teeth so hard, his jaw jerks. “We’re not going to argue about this, Al."***Jeb drags me behind him. “She’s not having this discussion with you.”***Jeb’s stance stiffens. “Change of plans,” he says. “Al’s not going to help you play out this little game, whatever it is."***“Hear that?” Jeb says, piercing me with the mockery in his voice. “The local cockroach has given you his stamp of approval. And you wonder why I can’t trust you to go off on your own.”***Jeb watches me with disapproval in his eyes.***Jeb curses and tries to turn me to him, but I can’t look away.***I sense the tension in the air as Jeb struggles to contain his temper.***“You can put me down now,” I grump.“I don’t know. It’s a lot easier to save your ass when I have it riding on my shoulder.”“You don’t need to save me.”Jeb barks a sarcastic laugh. “I don’t have much choice when you keep running headfirst into risky situations for this crusade of yours. "***It’s a good thing Jeb can’t see from his angle, or he’d break Morpheus’s hand off.***He attacks Morpheus, spinning him into his wings and slamming his back onto the tabletop. ***Morpheus grunts as Jeb’s arm grinds into his throat. ***Snarling, Jeb pulls away and kneels beside me...***Gritting his teeth, Jeb scoops me up over his shoulder.***I clamber off the table, fingertips resting on his bunched-up back muscles to calm him.***Jeb’s voice is choked with strained self-control.***He pulls me close. “I don’t know what’s happening. But we need to get you out of here quick.”***Jeb looks like he might snap at any minute.***I grip his shoulder from behind, reminding him to use restraint.***“No!” Jeb lunges in a move so swift, it almost jerks my arm out of its socket. ***Jeb pushes me aside and snaps out the Swiss Army knife, the blade pressed against Morpheus’s sternum.***Jeb glares at me.***Jeb turns to Morpheus, brandishing the knife’s blade again. “Anything goes wrong—she gets even a scratch—and I’ll gut you from head to toe.”***He snaps the army knife closed and looks off into the distance with all the patience and composure of a wild, caged animal. ***

Um, is this enough? Because I have more... And dear author, excuse me if I don't find this character swoon-worthy. He almost ruined the book. If he had his way, he'd have Alyssa wrapped up in a blanket like a newborn baby, controlling her every move. This book would never happen, because he wouldn't let her do a single thing that he personally didn't consider "safe". Jeb, give the girl some BREATHING SPACE, for fuck's sake! Let her think and make decisions and fend for herself! Did it ever occur to you that maybe she wanted to be touched by another guy, that maybe she wanted to have all the adventures, and maybe she wanted to stay in Wonderland? Did you EVER ask her what SHE wanted for herself? Of course not! Why would you? You treated her like you were her father and she was a brainless child and a sack of potatoes rolled into one neat package!

And the way Jeb snapped at everyone else? He totally would snap at Alyssa too, in time.

And don't even get me started on the sacrifice.

«Oh, you idiot!” Morpheus shouts up at Jeb. “Just had to be the hero, didn’t you?»

I couldn't agree more with Morpheus. I already pointed out in my first review why. It was so stupid and completely unnecessary. And I'm beyond words how every character dared to accuse Morpheus for the rash decision Jeb made. Are you kidding me? Just want to add that I feel like from now on this sacrifice is going to be used as a means to make Jeb and Alyssa end up together. The thing she said how she was going to "spend her life thanking him"? *shudders* Yes, Alyssa is totally going to guilt herself into staying with Jeb no matter what, no matter how her feelings might change. Because from now on, Jeb is a saint.Oh, and did I mention that I have little respect for people who have no sense of self-preservation?

It didn't really help that Jeb's competition in this frustrating love triangle was one of the most interesting and complex characters I ever read about in YA.

For once, I agree with Jeb, that was pretty much my state of mind while reading this book. But I think it was supposed to feel a little crazy, because this is about crazy. I hope I'm coherent here.

So, one day, I picked up Splintered … and closed it after about a couple of pages, disgusted by Alyssa's morbid hobby. As a nature and animal lover, I thought I was never going to like a girl who killed insects and put them in her mosaics. Just gross. But then my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to read on. It turned out Alyssa was not all that bad. I never bonded with that girl, but she wasn't particularly annoying either. She was damaged because of her mom and the whole Alice in Wonderland history. Because the original Alice was her great-great-grandmother and that fact had the most unfortunate consequences for her family. So Alyssa's weird behavior in the beginning of the story is understandable.

Who was particularly, insufferably annoying is Jeb. Alyssa's longtime friend, who, of course *eye roll *, was secretly in love with her. I don't know why, but I hate it when childhood friends suddenly become lovers in YA books. They always seem to choose the most inconvenient moment to confess their feelings, just when some new guy (who is often some kind of supernatural creature) appears on the horizon to sweep our heroine off her feet. Not that the second love interest was extremely swoon-worthy here, but still. I guess I'm just not team human.So, what was I saying? Ah, yes, that Jeb annoyed the crap out of me. There were moments in this book (honestly, most of the book) when I wished he wasn't in the story at all. First off, he was extremely controlling. He always pushed Alyssa around and told her, what to do.

And there were many more like that. He treated her like a little girl, shut her up and protected her «innocence» from all the bad guys while secretly lusting after her, too, and dating a girl who hated Alyssa's guts and was very mean to her. Jeb is described as this goth sexy artist, but honestly, judging by his behaviour, I pictured him as a nerdy boy next door and didn't find anything sexy about his persona. So I couldn't fathom why Alyssa was so enamoured with that rather boring guy. He was a buzz killer (pun intended).

Now we have the other love interest, the mysterious Morpheus.«He's a contradiction: taut magic coiled to strike, gentleness at war with severity, a tongue as sharp as a whip's edge, yet skin so soft he could be swathed in clouds». (Alyssa about Morpheus).

I must confess. I'm not a particular Alice in Wonderland fan. I mean, I read the book in my childhood and watched the cartoons, but that's about it. So it wasn't the Wonderland part that got me interested. It was Morpheus. I saw his picture on the cover of the sequel, «Unhinged», peeked at a couple of spoiler-free reviews, and knew I just had to see for myself.

«I hate you.»«Only because of the way I make you feel.»«Only because you bring out the worst in me.»«Oh no, luv. I bring out the life in you.»(Alyssa and Morpheus)

Well, whatever his faults are, I can't disagree with that statement. While Jeb was pulling Alyssa back, Morpheus was always pushing her forward. Yes, he was a manipulative bastard, and his methods were questionable at best, but he was also the driving force behind the plot. Basically, he made this book happen. He was the only character that made me want to continue reading. I wanted to understand him. I wanted to discover the motives behind his actions. So I added one star to the rating because of Morpheus.Alyssa is splintered and Morpheus is unhinged – what a fine pair they make! ☺

The plot was as confusing as it probably should have been ☺. This is Wonderland, right?But I really wish the love triangle didn't take the center place. It would have done the book a lot of good if the romance took a backseat and chilled out for a while. The «big reveal» chapter in the end left me questioning everyone's logical thinking and asking what the hell did just happen? Because I could see so many stupid decisions and the reasons just didn't seem good enough.Which reminds me about Alyssa's mom, Alison. (And what's up with all the Alice-related names in this family? One would think they would avoid anything that reminded of the fairy-tale like plague, but they just stubbornly kept up the weird tradition.)

Usually, I don't have a problem with characters sacrificing themselves for the greater good, even though I'm not a fan of such sacrifices. But what Alison did was not sacrifice, it was sheer stupidity. To «put herself through years of overmedicated humiliation and horror» because she hoped to keep her daughter away from Wonderland and Morpheus – this is something I will never understand. By doing this, she hurt her poor husband and Alyssa in more than one way, repeatedly, over YEARS. Personally if I were her husband, I would be livid with her if I discovered that. Not to mention the fact that she didn't have even the smallest grain of self-respect and love for herself. Wasn't HER OWN LIFE worth anything at all? She even agreed to go through with electroshock to keep up that charade. Ugh, I just can't … The stupidest kind of «sacrifice» I've ever read about. She was selfish enough to want to marry Tommy and give birth to a daughter, knew the consequences of that all. If she really wanted to make things right, she should have gone down the rabbit hole herself to correct all mistakes and make sure her future daughter would be safe from the clutches of Morpheus and free from the curse. Or maybe honestly talk to her husband instead? Tell him the truth? If he wasn't worthy of her trust, then maybe they weren't soulmates at all. (view spoiler)[Well, we learn later that it wasn't a curse at all, but Alison didn't know that at the time she made her decision, right? (hide spoiler)]

*Edit* I thought Alison's sacrifice was the stupidest, but at that time I didn't yet know about Jeb's. His is a whole new level of stupid. (view spoiler)[I think that with this sacrifice he just took Alyssa's choices away from her one more time. Did he think she was going to return home after that and live happily ever after? He just left her with unbearable guilt she would have felt her whole life. Besides, he didn't know that Red was going to possess her body, so the options were for her to stay queen in Wonderland or to go home. Was it so bad to be the queen? Did he know that Alyssa was a netherling? Did he even think that maybe she would choose to stay in Wonderland after all? Or just as she did later, become queen and return home for a while? So he basically gave up his life for her to go home - well, I cannot wrap my mind around this decision. (hide spoiler)]

What can I say in the conclusion? I don't regret reading this book and I’m going to read the next installment too, mostly because of Morpheus. Hope this series gets better.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>...more

Splintered is a book you just have to stick with. My opinion of the book has drastically changed as soon as I hit the 100 pages mark. It transformed from a dull and tragically angsty story, to a twisted and beautiful one.

Alyssa Gardner is a great-great-great-grandaughter of Alice Liddel- the girl who's dreams inspired Lewis Carrol's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Every female in her family that was born since Alice, has g"It's the Wonderland crew after a heavy dose of radiation poisoning."

Splintered is a book you just have to stick with. My opinion of the book has drastically changed as soon as I hit the 100 pages mark. It transformed from a dull and tragically angsty story, to a twisted and beautiful one.

Alyssa Gardner is a great-great-great-grandaughter of Alice Liddel- the girl who's dreams inspired Lewis Carrol's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Every female in her family that was born since Alice, has gone mad. Alyssa's mother is in an institution. Alyssa has a secret- she can hear the thoughts of plants and bugs. She has always believed she was going crazy too. Until now.Suddenly there's a moth, that she keeps seeing everywhere. A moth connected to her past. She discovers that the madness in her family is a curse. In order to break it, she has to go down the rabbit hole and fix the wrongs done by Alice.

Wonderland though, is not exactly the land that we have all come to know.

The beginning sucked. There were a few good things, but otherwise the before-wonderland part of the book just wasn't anything special. You had an annoying main character, that maybe wasn't as annoying alone, but when put with the "noble and protective" Jeb, lost any interesting quality.

"My red T-shirt design: a bleeding heart wrapped in barbed wire. Might as well be an X-ray of my chest."

Spare me the woe-is-me crap Alyssa. Yes, you are tortured we get it.

Alyssa is constantly controlled by her father and her best friend slash neighbour Jeb. Her father doesn't let her dye her hair because she reminds him of her mother. And Jeb does shit like this:

"I was so psyched about the study-aboard program that allowed seniors to finish their final year of high school in London while getting college credit from one of the best art universities there. The very university Jeb's going to.Since he's already received his scholarship and plans to move to London later this summer, Dad asked him to dinner a couple of weeks ago to talk about the program. I thought it was a great idea, that with Jeb in my corner I was as good as on a plane. And then together they decided it wasn't the right time for me to go. They decided."

WHO DOES THAT? And then let's take into consideration that all he claims to want is to protect her, while also dating the girl who has always bullied her (and then of course the girl is portrayed as the only "villain"). I strongly disliked Jeb for the whole book, for various reasons.

What bothered me the most was that, yes Alyssa did get upset, but all was forgotten as soon as he reminded her of how much he cared. And his looks sure helped too.

BUT THEN...Wonderland happened. And all was swell.

The way Howard created her own version of Wonderland, was something I haven't seen before. It connected the original story with a new darkness,re-created a fabulous world and the twisted out of character characters were dancing on top of everything.

Howard's words and writing style are delicious. Everything she writes is described so perfectly. You can feel the words. You can imagine being there.

"Their pointed ears and flowing hair sparkle, and their eyes are bulbous and metallic like a dragonfly's, as if they're wearing copper sunglasses. Wings flutter next to my cheek, milky white and furred with something resembling dandelion fuzz."

You can touch everything with your mind.

The plot of the book twists and turns. It's suprising and just a bunch of fun to read about. If you are familiar with the original fairy-tale this can be even more fun for you.

And then there's the star of the book. Morpheus.

“He's a contradiction: taut magic coiled to strike, gentleness at war with severity, a tongue as sharp as a whip's edge, yet skin so soft he could be swathed in clouds.”

He is manipulative. He is flawed. He is so damn interesting. Morpheus seduces the reader into awe.

He is a wonderful anti-hero. And the sexual tension between him and Alyssa is unbelievable.

All In All: A fantastic retelling. It takes a bit to love, but you get there. I would definitely recommend....more

#1 New York Times and International bestselling Author of Gothic / Fantasy & Paranormal tales. Mystical & romantic with a side of horror. YA, NA, and Literary Romance. Repped by Jenny Bent.

A.G. was inspired to write the Splintered Series, her tribute to Carroll's Wonderland, while working at a school library. Her pastimes are reading, rollerblading, gardening, and family vacations which of#1 New York Times and International bestselling Author of Gothic / Fantasy & Paranormal tales. Mystical & romantic with a side of horror. YA, NA, and Literary Romance. Repped by Jenny Bent.

A.G. was inspired to write the Splintered Series, her tribute to Carroll's Wonderland, while working at a school library. Her pastimes are reading, rollerblading, gardening, and family vacations which often include impromptu side trips to 18th century graveyards or condemned schoolhouses to appease her overactive muse.

How A.G. Howard rates books on GoodReads:

"I only rate or review books I enjoyed reading, and won't give any rating below 4 stars. Please don't consider every high rating a personal endorsement / recommendation from me. My ratings here are subjective to me as an individual.

I don't rate books solely on style. Every writer's voice is individual and unique; I've come to respect this truth during my own personal journey. As long as a story takes me to another place and is well edited, I'm going to give it a good rating. And if, for some reason, a book doesn't entertain me or I don't finish it, I won't leave a rating or review at all.

If you're considering a book I've reviewed/rated, be sure to read other reviews/ratings alongside mine to help you decide if it's a read you might enjoy personally.